Cameras and other video-recording devices have long been used to capture still and video images. In general, cameras consist of an enclosed hollow portion with an opening or aperture at one end to allow light to enter and a recording surface for capturing the light at the other end. In addition, cameras often have a lens positioned in front of the aperture along an optical axis to gather the incoming light and focus all or part of an image onto the recording surface. Fields of view vary from camera to camera, but in general, most cameras have a field of view that ranges from a few degrees to, at most, 180°.
In the past, to overcome the limited field of view, surveillance cameras used for monitoring large areas were oftentimes mounted to mechanisms adapted to enable the camera to pan, tilt, and zoom in order to move objects into the camera's field of view. One type of camera, called an omnidirectional camera, has been used to monitor large areas without a need for mechanisms to enable pan, tilt, and zoom. An omnidirectional camera is a camera with an omnidirectional field of view, such as, for example, a 360-degree field of view. Some omnidirectional cameras may be adapted to capture images from all directions (a full sphere). However, many omnidirectional cameras do not capture a full sphere of images, but rather capture 360 degree of images along a single axis with the field of view being limited angularly above and below the axis.
The use of dashboard cameras in police vehicles has been well known for many years and is an integral part of a police department's evidence-gathering capability. One limitation of conventional cameras is the limited field of vision. Devices that include a movable camera and having near 360-degree capability have been developed. One limitation of these devices is the time it takes to pan or tilt the camera. An additional limitation relates to the reliability issues commonly associated with devices having moving parts. More recently, devices with at or near 360 degree image-capturing capability have been developed that do not require mechanical panning, tilting, and zooming. However, these devices often require large amounts of data storage and often record large amounts of irrelevant images.